The two sights everyone skips

Zhangjiajie has a crowd problem, and it is worst at the places you have already heard of: the glass bridge, Tianmen Mountain, the Avatar viewpoint at Yuanjiajie. Meanwhile, twenty minutes away, there are two attractions that require almost no effort and are almost empty by comparison.

Baofeng Lake and Huanglong Cave sit in the Wulingyuan area, and together they make an easy half day. If you have a spare afternoon in Zhangjiajie, this is what I would do with it.

Baofeng Lake: a boat ride between cliff walls

Baofeng Lake is a reservoir, which sounds unromantic until you see it. The water sits in a gorge, surrounded by the same sandstone pillars that made the region famous, and the only way to see it is by boat.

The boats run continuously and the ride takes about 40 minutes. You glide along the base of cliffs, past waterfalls, under a stone arch. Local Tujia singers perform from the shore at a couple of points along the route, which is a bit staged but genuinely lovely, because the acoustics in the gorge do most of the work.

It is calm, it is shady, and there is almost no walking. After three days of staircases in Zhangjiajie, that is a real gift.

Huanglong Cave: a cave on an industrial scale

Huanglong Cave, the Yellow Dragon Cave, is enormous. Close to 8 kilometres of passages, most of it over water, with a river running through it and two underground boat sections. You walk, then you queue for a boat, then you walk again.

The lighting is the thing people argue about. It is colourful, artificial and dramatic in a slightly dated way. I found it charming. If you want naturalistic cave lighting you will not get it here. If you want to feel like you are inside a very large, very old, very lit-up hollow mountain, you will love it.

There is a lot of stair climbing and some slippery sections. Wear proper shoes.

How to fit both into one half day

• Start with Baofeng Lake in the morning, when the boat queue is short and the light in the gorge is best.
• Have lunch near the lake entrance. The restaurants are simple and cheap.
• Do Huanglong Cave in the early afternoon. It takes about two hours including the boats.
• Both are accessible from Wulingyuan town by taxi or local bus.

Tickets and timing

Both charge separate entrance fees, and neither is included in the main Zhangjiajie forest park ticket. Buy on arrival if it is a quiet day, or in advance through the usual apps during holidays.

Avoid the first week of October and Chinese New Year. Outside those windows, these two attractions are noticeably calmer than anything else in the area, which is exactly why they are worth your afternoon.

Who this is right for

Families, anyone travelling with someone who cannot manage long hikes, and anyone who has already done two hard days on the mountains and wants a break that still feels like a holiday. It is not the most spectacular thing in Zhangjiajie. It is the most relaxing, and sometimes that is what you need.

Getting between the two

Taxis are the easy answer and the drivers in Wulingyuan know both entrances. A local bus runs along the main road, which is cheaper but slower and requires you to work out the stop names. If you are based in Wulingyuan town, both attractions are within twenty minutes by car.

One warning: after about 4pm it becomes hard to find a taxi back from the cave, because drivers prefer the longer fares out of the park. Either book a car for the day through your hotel, or make sure you leave the cave with plenty of daylight left.

What I would skip instead

If you have a spare afternoon and you are deciding between this and the glass bridge, take the lake. The glass bridge is a fifteen-minute experience with a long approach and a longer queue, and in wet weather it closes. Baofeng Lake and Huanglong Cave give you two hours of actual scenery with a fraction of the waiting.

If you are choosing between this and one more crowded viewpoint, take the lake. You will remember the quiet.

Originally published on 71Asia Tours blog.